Sudan— Woman Sentenced To Death For Allegedly Stabbing Her Husband To Death, Who Raped Her With His Brothers

#JusticeForNoura
Noura Hussein had no desire to get married. she was approximately 16, aspiring to be a teacher and hadn't even finished high school. But the Sudanese teen's family forced her to marry the man of thier choice, her cousin, against her will.

Her family made a contract with the man's family and the marriage was resolved. Hussein refused to accept, fleeing to live with a relative in a neighboring city for almost three years, according to Amnesty International and other activists involved in the case. In April last year, her family persuaded her to return home on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan's capital.

Although her father promised her that there will be no more wedding, she was set up and her family forced her to participate in a wedding ceremony and move in with her husband. And when she refused to consummate the marriage, her husband with the help of his brother and cousins raped her, stated her lawyer and some activists in Sudan, who told the Associated Press.

The next day, he tried to rape her again. Unfortunately for him, however, she grabbed a knife and stabbed him to death. Although, it was called an act of self-defense by her legal team, the court called it murder.

Under the sharia law in Sudan, someone found guilty of murder is to be executed or forced to pay a fine. Forced child marriage and marital rape are not considered crimes in Sudan and cannot be used as proof in a defense. The family of the deceased chooses the punishment for the person found guilty. They can choose either to forgive the person, demand for fine, or sentence the person to death after an agreement has been made by the whole family, stated Badreldin Salah , aged 25, an activist with Afrika Youth Movement.

However when the Judge asked the deceased man s family what they wanted, the family chose execution...